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That's not always the answer. I mean the height and the depth and the breadth and the length of the love of Christ is beyond understanding so Whenever you get to that point where you think you understand something Take heed lest you fall.
So anyway with that, let's just open up with a word of prayer and then we'll go to the article On saving faith and as I said, no brother Keith will come and do the benefits of faith. So let's pray Our Father in God again.
We come to you in that name the name of the Son of God the Lord Jesus Christ who so loved us that he gave himself for us Lord, we stand amazed in the presence of that truth that we have a Savior. We have a Redeemer.
We have one who? Sits upon the throne and he is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and he rules even among Principalities and powers and things Unseen as well as things that are seen and that everything is subject to him.
We thank you Lord that we are in him by the work that he wrought for us on Calvary's cross be with us tonight Lord. May just a few minutes in your word encourage us teach us direct us guide us and transform us Lord that Your truth would do Regenerating worth in work in us continually Lord that you would sanctify us more and more that we become less like the world Lord rather Than more like the world and that we would truly stand as lights Shining on a hill and that all men would see That we are distinct because we have the Spirit of God within us.
So bless us tonight. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Okay, so if you have your confessions as I said We'll read the the article is rather short and I also will read the appendix and for article 22, which is entitled saving faith it there is a adjoining Appendix article and it's article 7 and so I'll read both of them and then we'll maybe have some thoughts on both Both parts of it what they say in the beginning and then what is added in the appendix.
So Article 22 Faith is the gift of God Wrought in the hearts of the elect by the Spirit of God by which faith they come to know and believe the truth of scriptures and the Excellency of them above all other writings and all things in the world is they whole fought the glory of God in his attributes.
The excellency of Christ in his nature and offices the workings and operations and so are enabled. Mm-hmm. And so I'm sorry and of the power and fullness of the Spirit in its workings and Operations and so are enabled to cast their souls upon this truth thus believed.
And then let me read to you the article That was added to in a sense to help clarify open up Expand a little bit article 7 says this. Though we confess that no man doth attain unto faith by his own goodwill.
Yet.
We judge and know that the Spirit of God does not compel a man to believe against his will. But doth powerfully and sweetly create in a man a new heart and so make him to believe and obey willingly.
God.
Thus working in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure and certainly there are a number of scriptures that the brethren given it that's so interesting right that that they not only make statements because anybody can make a statement right, but they make statements that are basically Founded in the scriptures and as you read through the confession many times you almost see it's almost verbatim what they state Being from directly from the Word of God.
So again to think about saving faith and I want to make sure that we start in the right place because You just think about it if you don't start in the right place. The tendency is to to drift off costs somewhere down the line when you agree I mean if we if we're just off a little bit to the left or a little bit I think about it when I use my my scroll saw and If you want an accurate cut just ask my son-in-law because I'll drift.
And I try to start the right place, but I never seem to wind up where I should be. But but just think about it in in the area of this thought of saving faith if we do not have the foundational Block in place then there will be that tendency to drift off course and to fall into error on the left error on the right or Somewhere else along the way and what I wanted to say is this if we don't start with the reality that faith.
Saving faith is a I'll say it this way that saving faith is a divinely appointed gift. That if we I believe we cannot see that or we will not see that's where it begins. Then we're going to be off costs in a very short order that when you think about the whole idea of a gift and we could certainly look at Ephesians 2 for that that a Gift is something that someone else gives.
It's not something you have. It's not something you own. It's not something in that sense that you can We you can go out and get on your own it's a gift is something that someone else freely and Willingly gives to you and if we don't start there with saving faith I believe we're going as I said to find the rocks and run into problems.
It's it's it's foundational to everything that we say and I think that's why As they begin to open up on saving faith that the first few words are just that faith is the gift of God. And I want to qualify that a little bit what I believe the brethren are talking about here and what I hope we believe as we Speak about faith is is we're not just talking about any old faith, right?
We're not just talking about a faith that is you know, some people say well, I just have blind faith. Well, that's not what Christianity is about. Is it Christianity is not blind faith. Christianity is not even a Partial faith Christianity and saving faith is a faith that what?
Thank you, you said it Saving faith is a faith that saves right? It's as simple as that. I mean And and again if you think about that and you think about All the ways in which people seek to define faith.
What the brothers are speaking about here what I trust we all believe is that we are talking about a faith that saves From beginning to eternity if we could even begin to comprehend it that it's not just Again, it's not just something that's factual.
You know, you could have facts about faith. I'm not have saving faith you can have even Intellectual understanding of of certain facts about the Bible and about God and about Christ and about Christianity.
And still not have saving faith. You can even be able to perceive some of the the the out workings of faith as you see people's lives changed by the working of the Spirit of God and by By faith that they are given but even that is not saving faith the only thing that really is saving faith is when it is experimental.
You know in within us. Because there are many people that have some of those things along the way and many people will say well they'll Claim that as their reasoning for the hope that's in them, but really apart from from having it experimentally or if you will intimately within us and and Flowing from us then it's not really saving faith.
And as they they lay this out I think it's important for us to understand as they say faith is the gift of God wrought in the hearts of The elect by the Spirit of God and I wanted to stop there for a minute and ask us to think about this.
And here's what I did. I began to think how often people shy away of using that term elect. And how often people shy away from using terms like predestination and calling and and and I wanted to comment on it.
And what I did was I went back and I read through the whole confession. And I wanted to see how often that the brothers in 1644 that penned this confession how often they use the term elect and. And what I found was just reading through it and I read through the appendix that there are seven different specific times where they'll use the word elect and there are many many more in which it's implied and My point is saying that as they talk about saving faith these brothers were Neither hesitant nor bashful to speak about saving faith in the term in the reality of how it is to the elect.
And I think that's important for us. And again Let me put it this way one of the things that makes my blood boil.
Yeah.
Everybody's got things that make their blood boil, right? You don't have to confess right now. You can keep it to yourself.
But.
One of the things that makes my blood boil Is when I hear people and I've heard it over the years. I hear people say something like this. Well, you know, I believe in election and I believe in the doctrines of grace and I believe in Predestination and I believe in calling and I believe in in in what the Bible says about election, but you know what?
Let's not use the term Because it's offensive it'll put people off. It makes my blood boil when I hear people in one way. Say that they believe in election and they believe in the doctrines of grace and they believe in the sovereignty guard.
They believe salvation of the Lord and they believe that no man can come to the father except the son draws him and then the next Breath they'll say but you know what? Let's hold back pull back on the reins a little bit because it will put people off.
And I've always thought what and I've always said that when I heard someone said I'd always so well, I'll tell you what. I'll never put the elect off. It'll never disturb the elect because they will come to saving faith so you and I and you think about it and you think about these brothers, especially in the day in which they penned this that they.
Were.
Bold and prepared and ready to claim not only what saving faith is But that it pertains truly to the elect of God. And that you and I should be able to stand in a day when there was so much desire to pass words and pass this and separate that and and kind of Sneak this in and that in as far as biblical doctrine that you and I be willing to to stand forward and say, you know what?
We believe that saving faith is directed at the elect and that if we need be we'll define what election means. And I know brother Keith has has Done that and I think that's what you're talking about in part on your podcast when I walked in right about Calvinist.
Okay, same thing.
That can mean a thousand different things to a thousand different people. You tell somebody you're Calvinist that's pretty self-defining. It's it's very clear.
Right, well, they might have a wrong understanding of it. Yeah, and I was tying to tell him the little story I might have told you when I Ended up the church and somebody found out that I was a Calvinist and they decided to leave the church and They came up to me and they said that they were leaving.
I asked them what was the reason and they said cuz you're one.
Of those.
Calvinisms. And I said, I'm a what I Know I'm an Italian, but I never heard of being a Calvinism and I said, where in the world Did you get that term? He said I found it on the internet and I talked to another pastor and he told me to make sure I stay away from You because you're one of those Calvinisms and I said the Lord bless you.
He was gone. But but just think about it so as they say this and as they laid us out that faith is the gift of God wrought in the hearts of the elect by the Spirit of God by which faith they come to know and believe the truth in the scriptures and the excellency of them above all the writings and all things in the world that you and I would also Be forward in our understanding that we need to define Saving faith and we need to define saving faith as being wrought by the Spirit of God.
That it is not by the will of man and we'll speak about that in a minute certainly that's what was addressed in the appendix, but that you and I would say whether it's in the Old Testament and It might be a different out working and different understanding of certain aspects of it or whether it's in the Old Testament in the New Testament when it pertains to young people or old people or educated or uneducated or Those raised in a Christian household those raised in a pagan household I don't care where it is that you and I would understand that Saving faith is a gift of God and it's wrought in the heart by the Spirit of God.
And so What's interesting? I thought was interesting if you read this article They use this in a in a way in which they demonstrate the Trinity and I thought that was really Spot on it if you just read it it talks about It's the gift of God.
And then it says it's the excellency of Christ and his nature and offices and it's of the power and fullness of the Spirit. And in his should be his workings and operations. So therefore when you think about saving faith, not only is saving faith a gift of God but it's a gift of the Triune God and that and that the Trinity in as best we can understand of three distinct persons and yet all of the same essence that that it is a work of The Triune God to bring men to saving faith and when I say men certainly I don't just mean Male, but but is wrought by the Spirit of God.
And solely by the Spirit of God and that in and of itself friends Should help us as we talk to people about saving faith if we address it strictly from that sense that it's it's Wrought by the Spirit of God and then we can address it from the standpoint of that the natural man as Paul says He cannot discern the things of God.
He does not have the Spirit of Christ with him and then that in that what Paul says in Romans if any man might Have not the Spirit of Christ. He's what? None of his so saving faith is a gift and it's in its outworking.
It's a gift of the Triune God and It is something that takes place at what point when the savings faith really Begin its its operation. Maybe I'm not making myself clear. Let me let me ask you this to this way and I would hope we would be able to The saving faith bring regeneration as regeneration bring saving faith.
Saving faith brings regeneration. Okay I'm gonna I think I know what you're saying regeneration are Before a saving faith. I would think that the scriptures are very Clear in that regeneration takes place first.
Regeneration brings. Yeah. Yeah, and I and I know sister that you. But but certainly it is Again, it has to be it's the gift of God. What is the gift? The gift is life. Right, because that's what Jesus said.
This is life eternal. If we can't equate saving faith to life Then we got a problem in understanding what saving faith is or what life is and so certainly regeneration is that which brings? Saving faith and that regeneration simply Absolutely and completely is a work of the Spirit of God and it is a gift of God.
Not of works what lest any man should boast right? So when you think about it as the brothers lay this out. They lay it out very clearly. They lay it out very distinctly and they also talk about it in the sense of its fullness.
And of its its beauty and of its its transforming work. And so you think about what saving faith is saving faith is is a faith that takes a man and again Generically, but takes a person from being a hater of God to a lover of God.
It's as clear as that it takes it takes a dead person and makes them alive. It takes a hater of God because that's what a dead person is spiritually a dead person is a hater of God. And it brings them into life and then they become a lover of God and so again.
When you think about it This whole idea of how people get confused about certain things again. If you don't start in the right spot you're going to be confused if you And I've said it a thousand times and I'll say it a thousand times more if we do not understand the condition of man Apart from the grace of God then we are going to have great problems understanding the grace of God.
Would you agree to that if we do not understand the condition of man Apart from the grace and mercy of God then the grace and mercy of God becomes very cloudy. Once we understand our true condition then Saving faith as a gift of God as wrought by the Spirit of God as a regenerating work becomes very very clear In our minds and in our hearts and ultimately in our lives.
So when you think about it put it this way someone who has savings faith has gone from being a hater of God to a lover of God and and has become a worshiper of God not a worshiper of God through statues or means or Practices or religious activities but becomes a lover of God because he sees the greatness of God.
And I think that's something that sometimes people will be Confused about what is where do I what should I feel like when I have saving faith? Well, if you have saving faith, you'll know you'll know that God is great and that his greatness is is unsearchable.
And then his greatness is worthy to be praised. And so we go from from not only haters of God, but from despises of the worship of God to a desire to worship God. And so again, it speaks to us in terms of the fullness of the Spirit.
And it's working in operations and are able to cast their souls upon this truth. Thus believed. That's that's a great way to say it. They cast their souls upon the truth. Thus believed. All right. I want to just take a minute and ask you to go back and to the the appendix and I wanted to comment on a couple of things that they talk about appendix.
Let me just read it again. It's quick enough to read again.
Page 35.
Yes, ma 'am. And so let me just read with what was added to it to to open it up a little bit more to give it better. Definition. It says. Therefore we confess that no man that attain unto faith by his own good will.
Yet we judge and know that the Spirit of God doth not compel a man to believe against his will. But doth powerfully and sweetly create in a man a new heart and so make him to believe and obey willingly God thus working in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
And and I think this is important and I'm thankful that the brethren put it in the confession and worded it to where the way they did because That statement is so needful.
In.
Seeking to help those who struggle with the doctrine of saving faith as as a work solely of the Spirit of God given to the elect because people will begin to say and Misunderstand. Well, if that if what all you're saying is true then all we are a bunch of robots and a bunch of puppets and God's just pulling the strings and and and basically.
That's all there is to it. But the reality is when we talk about saving faith, we're talking about a faith that transforms us.
Willingly.
Not against our will and you know how many people and I'm sure you've all had conversations with people at one point or another when you start to bring up the idea of the sovereignty of God and and the doctrine of the elect and the doctrine of saving faith being a gift to God that people will will begin to kick and and and and Churn within about being puppets and robots and and here's the reality, right?
The reality is saving faith is a gift of God is when God works in us to willingly come. No man has Come to Christ of his own. We we we stand on that truth and yet we say That we willingly come to Christ.
What does it say in a and even in the Arctic in the appendix it quotes from Ezekiel what does God say in that great promise in a new covenant says I will give you what a new heart and. A new will and a new disposition and new desires.
Not the desires that you had maybe if you if you are a hater of God. You've got certain desires that bind you. But what God does and saving faith is he takes us out of that realm. Transforms us into the kingdom of his dear son and gives us a new heart and we willingly come.
You want to say God compels us to come fine,. I Agree with that and I'm thankful that God compels us to come but God Works in us and gives us a new heart and we willingly come. Is it says in the Psalms that great statement in Psalm 110 what my people shall be willing in the day of my power.
My people shall be willing they will desire it. They will desire. That's what I gotta stop. But there's one of the desires. One of the things that we ought to see in someone who says they have saving faith.
They ought to have different desires and they ought to manifest themselves. They if someone says they have saving faith and and and that their will and their desires and their their lives are No different.
After they say they have saving faith than before they have saving faith. Something ain't right. Because the Spirit of God works in us in this working of saving faith and we.
Come even as the Lord Jesus Christ called the disciples when he first called Peter and Andrew and James and John and they left their nets and They left their father and they left their livelihood and what?
He followed him.
They willingly followed. They weren't yanked and pulled. And then you remember the other accounts in the Gospels when Jesus said follow me and oh, man I gotta go bury my father. Can't you wait till he dies and I gotta go test the ox and make sure that that's not saving faith.
Saving faith Willingly comes. And I was talking about the key about something earlier in the week I had been thinking about Zacchaeus. Remember Zacchaeus in the Bible in the Gospels. The wee little man we sing that little song the kids used to sing.
Zacchaeus was a wee little man. Should I keep singing. A wee little man was he. He climbed up in the sycamore tree to save you for the sea. And I don't remember the last part. But anyway, my whole point is think about Zacchaeus.
There was a desire in Zacchaeus to see the Savior. And I'm gonna say that was wrought by the Spirit of God and nothing was gonna stop him. So what does he do the little dude? He climbs up in the sycamore tree.
He's gonna see the Savior to me, that's the demonstration a demonstration of how this saving faith is to be defined that it's a it's a work of the Spirit of God wrought in our hearts that we willingly Desire to come and to follow him to obey him to love him to glorify him to to if you will imitate him.
That's what we ought to be as Paul says imitators of Christ. And again, I Just think it's so good the way this was laid out in the appendix because the appendix really helps us understand.
What was.
Somewhat briefly stated in the opening article. Let me let me close it by this. Saving faith is a faith that not only saves.
But it.
Creates in us a New desire.
Which.
Continually burns and even as the psalm say it it burns brighter and brighter unto that day. Then what John said is as we close John 6. He says it's the spirit that quickens. Anybody remember the last half of that verse?
It's the spirit that quickens John 6 63. I think it's the spirit that quickens the flesh prophets. Nushing nothing, right? So when you think about it and his brother Keith will come and now explain in in a little bit more.
Understanding the benefits of it. That'll be defined it now. We can understand the benefits of it and I'll just close it with this and it's my one of my favorite sayings. And it's the last verse in the Psalms.
It's the thing I've had on my business cards and thing that's on the bottom of my email. Simply that last verse in Psalm 150 and it simply states let everything that has breath praise the Lord. All right.